Coolsaet pulls out of London Marathon

Canada’s top marathoner Reid Coolsaet has decided not to run the London Marathon, after a recent injury has hampered his preparations for the prestigious race on April 17.

Coolsaet has been nursing a foot injury — a soft-tissue problem, as opposed to a stress fracture — for the past few months.

“I was really behind the ball due to my injury,” Coolsaet wrote on his blog. “[I] made the decision that I didn’t want to play catch up and sacrifice my preparation for such a big race. I’d much rather save it up and run well in the fall.”

Coolsaet, currently at a high-altitude training camp in Kenya, has also decided against running the world championship marathon in Daegu, South Korea in September. Instead, he said he’ll find a fast fall marathon to bring his personal best down, likely to the 2:10-range.

Coolsaet met the Olympic qualifying standard when he ran 2:11:23 at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in September. But he believes he will need to run even faster to secure a top-3 Canadian ranking to earn a spot on the team for the 2012 London Games.

Coolsaet’s Speed River teammate, Eric Gillis, is still slated to run the 2011 Virgin London Marathon.